Brian Greene
Department of Physics and Department of Mathematics
Columbia University
Brian Greene is one of the world's leading theoretical physicists and a
brilliant communicator of cutting-edge scientific concepts. He is a
bestselling author, a Columbia University professor known for a number of
groundbreaking discoveries and a riveting public speaker.
In his national bestseller, The Elegant Universe (Pulitzer Prize finalist
and winner of the Aventis Prize, Britain's top science book award), Greene
recounts how the theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics
transformed our understanding of the universe, and he introduces us to
string theory, a concept that might be the key to a unified theory of the
universe. The book has sold more than a million copies.
His latest book, The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of
Reality, spent 25 weeks on The New York Times bestsellers list and inspired
The Washington Post to describe him as “the single best explainer of
abstruse concepts in the world today.”
With artful metaphors and often humorous analogies, Greene succeeds in
making the most sophisticated concepts in physics and cosmology accessible
and entertaining to a general audience. “We're talking about the biggest
questions of all time,” says Greene. “Why is there a universe? What is
space? What is time? How is it all put together? You don't have to be a
physicist to find this stuff fascinating.”
In fall 2003 Greene hosted the Emmy Award-winning NOVA special, “The
Elegant Universe,” on PBS, taking audiences on a thrilling journey through
hidden dimensions, superstrings and black holes in a quest to unify the laws
of nature. The response to “The Elegant Universe” was phenomenal, drawing
more than twice the average TV audience for a NOVA series. The program
received a 2004 Peabody Award for broadcast excellence.
Greene's “elegant universe” and study of string theory have been widely
profiled by the media, including a one-hour segment on ABC's Brave New
World series on Nightline (hosted by Robert Krulwich), The NewsHour with Jim
Lehrer, CNN, Charlie Rose, Seed Magazine, Scientific American, USA Today,
The New York Times, Conan O'Brien and The Late Show with David
Letterman.
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Greene considers lecturing “a form of performance.” His
Strings & Strings
performances with the Emerson String Quartet are multimedia presentations of
string physics and string music. With a background in theater, Greene has
made cameo appearances in the films Frequency and Maze.
Greene is a graduate of Harvard, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and is a
professor in both Physics and Mathematics at Columbia University. He is
co-director of Columbia's Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and
Astroparticle Physics (ISCAP).
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Scientific Lecture
Monday, November 21st 15:00
Room M1, Strathcona Hall
The State of String Theory
Public Lecture
Monday, November 21st 19:00
Leacock Auditorium
Einstein's Dream:
An Elegant Universe
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